The Story of Ma Yunlu
by minasatsumi
Summary: Zhao Yun X Ma Yunlu  As Ma Chao's younger sister, Ma Yunlu had helped dig him out of trouble from rebelling Cao Cao to being one of the Tiger Generals of Shu. What happens when Ma Chao arranged a marriage for her to one of the Tiger Generals, Zhao Yun?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Hyah!"

A woman, 16 years of age, with long, jet-black hair tied up in a ponytail with a white bow and straight bangs hanging on top of her brown eyes, charged toward her brother with a white mare, spear-on high. Her brother, with a headgear that brushes up his short yellow hair, was high atop on a brown stallion, glaring at his sister as if she was an undefeated long enemy of his. He reared his horse and charged with his spear. The sister, with a sleeveless green crop top designed with bamboo leaves showing her midriff, a large black belt with a white long bow tied to the side, green and white fingerless gloves tucked up to her arms, a short green skirt above her knees, white socks that covered her knees, and long green boots designed with leaves just inches below her knees, swung her long spear at her brother, whose spear clashed with hers, and began dueling. After dueling and spear clashing for an hour, in which both sides seemed to have no advantage over the other, the brother swiped his spear over at the horse. Frightened, the horse reared, but the sister clung on, clashing spears again with her brother, who had unsuccessfully tried to finish her.

Smirking, she asked, "Mengqi, you think I'm so incapable of handling your tricks?"

The brother, who is none other than Ma Chao the Splendid, softened his expression, and laughed. "I'm not underestimating you, Yunlu. I'm just testing your skills."

Ma Yunlu, the sister of Ma Chao, shook her head. "Why can't you just admit that I'm harder to throw off on horseback? It's not like I don't know, you see?"

"Nneeeah," neighed the mare as Ma Chao kicked its legs, making the horse rear as high as ever, but Yunlu had already jumped off the horse, making a midair charge toward her brother. Blocking it, he returned some blow, in which Yunlu dodged, and managed to land behind Ma Chao atop his horse.

He, in return, frowned, and said in an annoyed tone, "Yunlu, you can't do that."

"Well, I just did, Mengqi. What are you going to do about it?"

Before Ma Chao could get the chance of knocking her sister down, a loud voice boomed from behind. "Yunlu, Chao, that's enough. You have improved, indeed, but it may not be enough for any of you to defeat the toughest general of all." Chao and Yunlu whipped behind to find a man, somewhere in his 30s, tall, mighty, and strong, but showed signs of aging and weariness. Yunlu jumped off the brown stallion and ran toward him.

"Father! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to visit Uncle Han Sui?"

Ma Teng, the father of both Ma Chao and Ma Yunlu, chuckled. "Ah, he had sent a message saying that he would be busy, so I've decided to watch my children duel. I was checking to make sure that my precious daughter would not be killed by my son."

"I'm not a wimp, Father! I can fight as well as anyone. You don't have to take care of me."

"Aw, as expected of my little sister, trying to be strong. Always saying that you can take care of yourself when you tied with anyone. Looks like I have some catching up to do," whistled a voice from behind. Yunlu turned to find her second oldest brother, Ma Tie, patting her on the head, with a smirk on his face. He continued, winking, "Just don't die on me, mmkay?"

Yunlu slapped his hands off of her head and whacked him in the back of his head. "Hateful as ever, Tie. You will never change. Trust me, one day, you will lose a fight to me instead of tying."

Ma Tie smiled like he did not mind her hitting him. He resumed to patting her head. "You will never learn, would you? It will be a long time before you can even think about defeating me."

Before Yunlu could protest, a gentle yet mighty voice from behind spoke, "Brother Tie, you know well that Sister Yunlu does not like that. Why don't you leave her be?" It is none other than Ma Teng's third and youngest son, Ma Xiu, dressed in a full suit of armor, and looked very much like a knight, except that he was holding a book- _The Art of War_- by Sun Tzu, in his hands. He greeted his two eldest brothers and smiled at his younger sister. Ma Tie withdrew his hand from Yunlu's head while Yunlu brushed her hair lightly.

"Thank you, Brother Xiu. You are the only good brother out of them all. If only they could be like you." Yunlu glared at her two other brothers while walking over to Ma Xiu and stood by his side.

Ma Chao and Ma Tie grumbled. "Yeah, you always show respect to him. Never even called us 'Brother' once," mumbled Chao, who already got off of his stallion and leading his and Yunlu's horse toward where his siblings stood, chatting.

Yunlu decided to ignore Ma Chao's comment and focused on her favorite brother, Ma Xiu. "So, how are your studies?"

Ma Xiu smiled. "Ah, it was the same as always. I have heard that you have improved your fighting skills, as well as Brother Chao."

"Yup!" Ma Chao pumped his chest triumphantly.

Yunlu shook her head and pointed, "You didn't even win against me, Mengqi."

Ma Teng laughed. "Like always, Yunlu, don't try to discourage your brother."

"Father, I'm just pointing things out." Yunlu went to Ma Chao, taking the white mare's rein from him and began grooming her horse.

"Not only that, you are always landing midair attacks. If it was the enemy general, I doubt he'd let you jump on his horse that easily," Ma Chao continued, annoyed.

"Don't worry, Mengqi, I will take his head off before he can behead me, but it also does not change the fact that we tied."

Ma Chao, in an effort to disregard what his younger sister said to him, decided to change the subject. "Father, what other news do you have?"

Ma Teng, hoping that his son would not even ask the question, replied gloomily, "Well, I have received news that the son of the warlord in the neighboring kingdom refused the marriage that I have arranged for Yunlu. Apparently, Yunlu, you have scared him."

Yunlu shook her head. "Father, he is no man- he cannot fight, does not even have any decent knowledge of China, drinks a lot, and is after pretty women. I'm not like one of those girls who were shallow enough to look after power, looks, money, and fame. If you want one of your daughters to marry, why don't you adopt one off of the streets and present her to one of the warlords? I'm not interested in marrying, Father. Your words wouldn't persuade me, ever, and besides," Yunlu smiled and stood beside her father, "if I'm single, I can live with you and Mother forever, and I can take care of you two. Isn't that wonderful?"

Ma Teng, alarmed at his daughter's words, replied sternly, "Yunlu, you must marry. There is no choice. What will you do when we die? You will be old by then, and your brothers can't take care of you forever. I wouldn't even be able to support you when your mother and I age. You need a family of your own, Yunlu, or you would be left to die by the time we entered our graves."

Yunlu, persistent, retorted, "Since 10, you have always arranged me with some boys that did not match me in skills nor wit, and I have predicted every single one of them would end up being a drunkard, a womanizer, an incompetent ruler, or a coward. Looks like I'm right. If I have to die, I would rather die beside my beloved parents than be left to die with a husband that I do not love nor care for. Please, Father, give me a chance." Her eyes are steady and pleading, and Ma Teng, hurt by her daughter's words, did not know what to say or do.

"Father, if Yunlu cannot marry, I would be glad to take her as a wife, if that's fine with you. Besides, you wouldn't have to worry about her, right, Yunlu?" Ma Tie interrupted, winking at his youngest sister.

Yunlu whacked him on the back of his head for the second time and yelled at him. "There will be no way that I will marry you, Tie! You would be the last of all the men in China that I will consider as a husband. Seriously." She sighed, shook her head, and left the training field, heading to the stable with her horse. Midway, she stopped, turned around, and stuck a tongue out at her second oldest brother. "If I have to marry, I rather take Brother Xiu instead!" She turned around and ran toward the stable, her mare galloping behind.

Ma Tie glared at his younger brother while Ma Xiu blushed. Ma Chao, laughing silently and soundlessly and patting Ma Tie in the back, followed behind his sister, holding on his stallion.

Ma Xiu, in an effort to comfort Tie, spoke innocently, "Brother Tie, don't mind what Yunlu said. She might not like you because of your actions. Try to be a little nicer to her." Tie grumbled, and wordlessly, without looking at his brother nor his father, stomped out of the field, leaving Ma Teng and Ma Xiu. They both looked at each other and shrugged, then headed each to their own way.

**Note from the author: Hello everyone ^^. This is the first fanfic that I have ever written, so it may have some flaws. Any suggestion is appreciated, and any requests, well, is not guaranteed -w-;;. Anyways, Ma Chao is based upon his DW6 form, and if you have a keen eye, you may notice that Ma Yunlu is based upon one of the girl forms of a general. In the next chapter, I am planning to drop their last name (Ma). As for Ma Tie and Ma Xiu, they were originally and historically Ma Chao's brothers, so I guess I am going to add them into the fanfic. Their looks aren't that important though (and you will see why). So is Ma Teng's. Thank you all for reading ^^.  
><strong>

**SPOILERS (DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO):**

Yunlu is based on Jiang Wei's DW5 girl drawing (Ma Chao's girl form is too...exposed). As a matter of fact, one of the primary characters, Ma Dai, will be in the next chapter. Ma Chao, however, will switch into his DW5 form in the next chapter, and will remain that way until the day he duels Zhang Fei, in which he will be in his DW7 form. Ma Dai, of course, is based solely on his DW7 form. Zhao Yun will be introduced much later.


	2. Chapter 1: Two years later

**Chapter 1**

"'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.' Well, I do know that after a hundred battles with Mengqi, it still ends the same way, so I guess the next hundred might be the same, hmm?" questioned Yunlu, looking at _The Art of War_.

She, now 18 years of age, is sitting in the library at her house in Xiliang, reading and studying the book written by Sun Tzu. Her brother, Chao, is resting in a chair, dozing off. Her father, Tie, and Xiu were training their own men, having armies of their own. Only Chao, whose army is resting, decided to take a nap himself, but he was forced into studying with his youngest sister. Catching him off guard, Yunlu whacked him in the head.

"MENGQI! EARTH TO MENGQI! ARE YOU LISTENING?" Yunlu yelled into his ears. Chao, alarmed, jumped off the chair that he was sitting. A wave of relief washed over him, and, seeing that he was safe, went and took his seat again.

"Are you even listening to a word I said?" asked Yunlu, annoyed, although she knew the answer to the question.

"Eh, is one of the quotes about justice?" guessed Chao, scratching his head.

"As expected of my Cousin Chao! You have no brainpower at all. Born to fight, and die fighting." A young man in his twenties came in, shaking his head and laughing. He, who is none other than Ma Dai, dressed like an artist, and wields a big paintbrush. He sat down besides Yunlu, grabbing a map and examining it.

Yunlu continued, "Mengqi, if half of your brain contains some knowledge of warfare instead of justice, maybe you might be a better general."

"Hey, that's not true," injected Chao. "Justice is a good cause to fight for the people, and without it, the world would go into chaos, and with chaos-"

"I'm glad that you and father think that way, but that is only a reason to motivate people to fight. You need to know how to win the war. That's why people fight-to win the war and to get what they want out of it."

"But justice is a huge factor too," protests Chao stubbornly. "Right, Dai? Justice will prevail!"

"What?" Dai asked, looking up from the map, not knowing what his cousin is talking about. Then, thinking about it for just a second, he grins. "Oh, yeah, all that justice and stuff," he replied nonchalantly, returning to the map.

Yunlu shook her head. "Dai, you don't have to agree with him if you don't want to. Mengqi needs to learn about war."

Dai shrugged. "Well, you can't teach someone if they don't want to learn. Might as well go along with the flow." He then took a brush and some ink along with some papers and wrote a few characters, making notes about the map.

As he wrote, Chao, bored, said, "Yunlu, duel with me again."

Yunlu frowned. "It will end up being a tie. It's no use. Have you forgotten? 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.'"

Chao yawned. "Such nonsense. You, Dai?"

Dai laughed. "Chao, have you forgotten that I have not wield a single spear since I was 3?" Yunlu remembered him telling her that while training, he used to be so bored that he practically picked up a stick and drew his cousin riding a horse, so real that his parents appreciated his talents.

_Well, that's how Dai got out of the training field- by drawing and reading,_ thought Yunlu. _Brother Xiu's not as lucky though._

"Come on, Dai. Just try holding a spear. It'll make a great weapon against the enemy," persuaded Chao.

Dai smiled and put a finger on his lips. "Well, the secret is, the pen is mightier than the sword," he whispered in a mysterious tone.

Chao burst out laughing hysterically. "Dai! What in the earth are you thinking? How can a pen win over a sword? That's just like saying a mouse can win over a cat! Did those books brainwash you?"

"Nope," Dai shook his head innocently. "Actually, they helped a lot."

Yunlu pondered over her cousin's words. She knew that Dai meant what he said, aside from his humorous jokes and nice ways, but still, she did not understand. How can a pen be mightier? Swords were used to kill people. Pen can only write for people to see. _For people!_ Her eyes widened, now with new understanding of what her cousin had meant. _A pen can write to people, manipulating their emotions and thoughts._ She nodded, smiling. Dai looked over at Yunlu and grins.

"See what I mean?"

"Yeah." She laughed, nodding. "Now I know why my aunt and uncle decided to stop training you."

"Yup," replied Ma Dai, gleefully. "I'm too much for them to stand, you know. They had to go along with my flow, which is a good thing, since I turned out to be a little more unexpected." He went back to his writing while Yunlu went back to her book.

"Chao," sung a girly voice. A woman barged into the library, carrying a tray containing two cups of tea. She settle one for Chao and another for Dai. Dai, raising an eyebrow at his cousin, smirked a little out of the corner of his mouth, and shook his head, concentrating back on his writing and ignoring the woman and her offering. Yunlu scowled at the sight of her, turning her back upon the woman, who had seated herself beside Chao and smiling sweetly at him. It is none other than his wife, Dong Yi, the prettiest girl in Xiliang who loves and chases after Chao for years. After all, her brother have all the power, fame, and looks that most lower class women wanted; it is common that those shallow women of Xiliang that Yunlu detests so much would love such idiot like her brother. Chao smiled at the sight of her, and drank the tea that she had offered him. Yunlu sighed, knowing that all men look for beautiful wives nowadays; not surprising that her brother would love her. Dong Yi then proceeded, purring, "I figure that you'd have a hard time, so I came in, bringing you and Master Ma Dai some tea." She then smirked at Yunlu's back, and said coolly, "Well, Yunlu, if you are thirsty, you can always go get something to drink."

"No thanks. I'm not thirsty. In fact, if you are so bored, why don't you do something productive? Like taking care of Young Qiu? Isn't it time to make his meals?" asked Yunlu, nonchalantly, with her back facing his wife still, and glanced slightly toward the woman. Dai, upon hearing this, grinned and slapped Yunlu's back, then went back to his work. Dong Yi, embarrassed, decided to divert her attention away.

"Master Ma Dai, please drink-"

"Nope. Not thirsty either. Guess that'd make the two of us, hmm, Yunlu?" Dai finished his notes and put them away.

"Yeah..." Yunlu trailed off, waiting for her brother's wife to leave.

Dong Yi, suddenly realizing that she does not belong in the library, got up from her chair. "Chao, I'm going to make Qiu his meals." She then floated away.

Yunlu breathed a sigh of relief. "That woman tried to seduce all of the guys in the Ma family. Why did you marry that idiot?"

Chao looked at his sister in horror. "What's so bad about her? My wife is nice and graceful, not like you!"

Dai shook his head grimly while Yunlu whacked Chao in the back of his head. "Even the strongest warrior can be seduced by a beautiful woman. She tried her luck with Tie and Xiu, too. Didn't work as planned, and jumped to Chao instead. I don't trust her, not even the food." He then lifted up the cup of tea and went out the door, coming back without any liquid. "Anyways, Chao, since Qiu was a boy, I guess he will take after you. Just don't let that woman spoil and ruin his mind."

"Hey! Dong Yi won't! What are you talking about? She-"

"Yeah, yeah. You are falling for her now. Can't help you, Mengqi." She flipped her hair upwards, and stood up. "Enough of that woman. Study!" Yunlu attempted to push Sun Tzu's book toward her brother, but he rejected it, grumbling.

"I'm not studying, Yunlu. That's just boring."

"That is why you tend to lag behind many great generals."

"Oh, studies will not make me a great general," replied Chao stubbornly. "Fighting and justice will."

"One day, Mengqi," Yunlu smiled persistently. "One day, you will need to know some of the strategies of war to survive in battle."

"Oh, surviving will be easy, alright?"

"It's not as easy as it seems," Dai injected. "Nothing is easy, my cousin."

Chao snorted. "I will just have to make it easy, alright? I don't need to study. By the way, Yunlu and Dai, you guys should find a mate. You can't go single forever, you know."

Dai laughed while Yunlu snorted. "That subject again! Why must it be brought up?" retorted Yunlu, mad.

"We are too early for that, cousin. Besides, we have 40 or more years to live, so what's the rush, hmm?"

Chao shrugged sheepishly, feeling a little dumb. "I'm just saying. No need to get defensive, you two."

Just then, a servant came in, bearing news. "Master Ma Chao, Master Ma Dai, and Lady Ma Yunlu, Master Ma Teng wants to hold a council with you along with Master Ma Tie, Master Ma Xiu, and all of the heads of the family. Please come immediately." Dai nodded and dismissed the servant. He then turned toward his two cousins.

"Shall we go?"

"Sure. I wonder what father has in store for us this time," replied Chao, leaving first. Dai was planning to leave and go, but was held back by Yunlu.

"Dai, you think something bad might happen? It never has gotten this serious before, summoning all of the heads of the family at once."

"I know," Dai said, looking at Yunlu. "Maybe it's something relating to Cao Cao, or our relation toward other important beings. All I know is that it is important, as you said. Good or bad, I can't predict." He took off his hat and scratched his head a little bit, and put it back on. "We should be going, ne?"

"Right," muttered Yunlu. _Well, whatever news there might be, I'm ready._ She calmly followed her cousin out of the door and toward the council room.


End file.
